Bringing together sources from many countries and many centuries, this study critically analyses the growth of nationalism - from medieval ethnic prejudice to the Romantic belief in a nation’s “soul”. The belief and ideology of the nation’s cultural individuality emerged from a Europe-wide exchange of ideas, often articulated in literature and belles lettres.

In the last two centuries, these ideas have transformed the map of Europe and the relations between people and government. Tracing the modern European nation-state as the outcome of a cultural self-invention, cross-nationally and historically, Leerssen also provides a new approach to Europe’s contemporary identity politics.

This study of nationalism offers a startling new perspective on cultural and national identity. National Thought in Europe was shortlisted for the Europe Book Prize.